The easy way to write a fundraising letter

It's always hard to get started writing. So I can appreciate the value of a "template" that gives you a framework to hang your material on. Here, in fact, is a Fundraising Donation Letter Template at Step by Step Fundraising:

Dear [name]:

Each year [name of organization] continues to advance the cause of [cause]. Through our programs [name of programs] we have seen many lives changed for the better.

Let me share with you the story of [story of someone affected by the issue / or helped by your organization]

It goes on, but you get the picture.

I hesitate to criticize a fellow hardworking blogger who's working to serve the nonprofit community, but: Please don't use this template to write your own fundraising letter. It's the old kind of organizational fundraising, where you brag about yourself, tout your abilities, focus on your needs, and then (maybe) mention to the donor that you'd like her to join your parade by sending a gift.

That's not appropriate fundraising any more. It never was, really -- but you used to be able to get away with it.

Tomorrow's donors -- and most of today's -- give for their own reasons, not yours. That's why the most important piece of any fundraising letter is the magic word: you.

With that in mind, I offer you the Donor Power Free Fundraising Letter Template. You are free to use this; it has absolutely no copyright whatsoever.

Instructions: Liberally sprinkle in nouns and verbs. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. Include specific examples of what the donor's gift will accomplish. Include true-life stories that demonstrate the need for the donor's involvement. Be sure to clearly and articulately ask for a gift more than once.

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What is this blog all about?

If you're serious about raising money from donors, you need to get serious about donors. More than ever before, donors are insisting that you share power with them, not treating them like passive ATMs. This blog is about the ways you can do that -- and the rewards that await you and your donors when you do.

About the Blogger

DonorPower Blog is penned by Merkle's Power Blogging Team, led by Greg Fox, our senior vice president of strategy. Working with Greg is a police line-up of guest "artists", fundraising pros all, who like to pose as blogatorialists when the sun goes down. You can reach this blog, and any of our regular contributors, atdonorpowerblog [at] merkleinc [dot] com. See this blog's policies.

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